Scientists have developed a satellite technique to capture a near real-time view of ocean acidification.

Their findings, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, showing how data from satellites that measure salinity and other ocean conditions could be combined to produce a new way of monitoring acidification.

Oceans are taking in about 90 percent of the excess heat created by human greenhouse gas emissions, but they’re also absorbing some of the carbon dioxide (CO2) itself.

A set of chemical processes dissolves that CO2 and turns it into carbonic acid and sets off a complex changes to the chemistry of seawater, which dissolves shells and coral and creates a cascade effect that could disrupt entire marine ecosystems.

A recent study estimated $1 trillion annually in losses caused by ocean acidification by 2100, if left unmitigated. Some research has looked at “designer” corals and other creatures that could survive more acidic seas but more work needs to be done to figure out just what will thrive (or at least survive) the changing acidity...

Using data collected from Numbeo—the “world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide”—web resource Movehub has created an infographic that points out the cost of living in different countries around the world.

According to Movehub, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was used to determine the living costs in the countries, which takes into account the prices for groceries, transportation, restaurants and utilities.

Switzerland, Norway, Venezuela and Iceland have been identified as countries with the highest living cost, while India, Nepal, Pakistan and Tunisia have the lowest cost of living.

Digital artist and illustrator Istvan has created a series of maps which artfully imagine the affect of cities and their human inhabitants on the local environment. His colorful images aren’t scientific in nature, but rather a personal exploration of what it might look like if the energies of the metropolis flowed out of the city itself.

“I wanted to represent the influence of cities on their environment as a kind of invisible fluid that overflows from the city to its surrounding.”

The flow of each city map was digitally rendered using local terrain to simulate the erosion flow Istvan desired, then reworked in Photoshop to create a unique identity for each place. The final images were printed on 70cm square acrylic glass.

The Future Living house took twenty six designers to create it, with every technologic leap analyzed to make sure all proposals were possible by 2050. It’s a paradigm shift in home resource creation and location with water using gravity to generate pressure and energy harvested from solar and wind. Air, water and waste are cleaned using a living bio wall.

People that commute by car spend an inordinate amount of time staring at taillights. There’s no way they’re getting around that traffic in front of them. But what about bike commuters? This group of Latvian cyclists recently created a powerful demonstration of the large footprint created by cars that carry just one occupant.

The four cyclists strapped on fragile frameworks shaped like cars, then hopped into the local traffic in Riga to show how much room they would occupy on their daily commute. The difference communicates loud and clear: if these cyclists were actually in cars, they would seriously add to congestion.

Interesting study from Latvia. Something to think about when fossil fuels run out or become too expensive to buy. Protection from bad weather is a definite plus for cars. Or, you could have commuters park their cars in a municipal lot and use bikes to reach their workplaces once they enter the city. Aloha, Russ.

Though the persistent brown halo around Downtown might suggest otherwise, the amount of cancer-causing toxins in the Los Angeles basin air has fallen 65 percent since 2005, says a new report out from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Don't breathe too deeply yet. Despite the improvement, "The levels still occurring here in Southern California are too high and need to be further reduced," an executive officer of the SCAQMD tells the Daily News.

The UCLA Luskin Center and Environmental Defense Fund have just released a new report looking at Los Angeles's opportunities for using more solar power (which are still 98% untapped, they say) and it includes these fascinating maps of which areas of LA County are most vulnerable to global warming.

According to the report, it's the "first study to provide specific climate-change projections for the greater Los Angeles area [in the years 2041 to 2060], with unique projections down to the neighborhood level." By mid-century, SoCal can look forward to "slightly warmer winters and springs but much warmer summers and falls, with more frequent heat waves," but the burden won't be spread around evenly: "The study predicts a likely tripling in the number of extremely hot days in the downtown area and quadrupling the number in the valleys and at high elevations." But of course higher temps aren't the only threat.

The Andrew Sykes Group, a large air conditioning firm based in the UK, has developed this interactive displaying record highs, and current temperatures from select cities across the globe.

While Climate Central's interactive tool(displaying the average temperature cities across the U.S. are expected to reach by 2100) did little to make those of us suffering a sweltering summer feel optimistic about the future, the interactive graphic at the link provides some perspective that current temperatures could be worse.

The Andrew Sykes Group has developed this interactive displaying record highs, and current temperatures from select cities across the globe. Smaller nodes represent cities, while larger nodes stand for the hottest temperatures ever seen on each continent.

The Andrew Sykes Group has developed this interactive displaying record highs, and current temperatures from select cities across the globe. Smaller nodes represent cities, while larger nodes stand for the hottest temperatures ever seen on each continent.

Fascinating interactive tool that displays the rising temperature trends around the world. Science fact or just natural cycles, the planet is getting warmer. This graphic is a sobering reminder of how lucky were are right now. The future is going to be hot, drier, and more uncomfortable than it is now. Aloha, Russ.

Homes in America are getting bigger, with higher ceilings and fewer occupants. Those who are spending a larger portion of their income on the infrastructure are also spending significantly more to heat, cool, and light up their homes. This greater expenditure also means a higher carbon footprint and a greater impact on the environment.

There’s a tiny house movement worldwide that aims to reduce carbon footprints and greenhouse emissions. Some of the homes are as small as 70 square feet. Most are under a thousand square feet, but are designed so well that they feel cavernous to those accustomed to larger dwellings. Learn more about space-saving and compact living from this infographic.

Whales are auditory creatures, meaning hearing is essential to their communication, navigation, feeding, and breeding. When container ships, oil tankers, and other large vessels travel through waters that are populated by whales, the ships produce noise that disrupts the whales’ activities and everyday life. This infographic looks at the secret to a sound ocean.

"With seven billion people now living on Earth, the ever growing demand is putting unprecedented pressure on global resources—especially forests, water, and food. How can Earth’s resources be managed best to support so many people? One key is tracking the sum of what is available, and perhaps nothing is better suited to that task than satellites."

Architects and Planners across the country are harnessing the potential of Big Data to build information-laden city-scale models. By gathering and synthesizing such factors as traffic, energy usage, water flows, and air quality, the urban design field is hoping to layout smarter, more efficient, and more resilient forms of development.

Having already made a huge difference to the landscape of the financial, public health and manufacturing sectors, it looks like we can expect Big Data to keep on trucking, so to speak, and right in to the major infrastructure decisions that drive our city planning.

But does it make sense to plan a city on digital footprints instead of real-time foot fall and the day to day needs of the population? Each of us behaves very differently online to how we live offline, so can turning that data into a streetplan really change the way we live for the better?

While the advantages of green building are no secret, the perception of high up front costs keep a lot of construction conventional. This infographic from Green Building Canada simply breaks down both the environmental and economic benefits of sustainable building. While this is based on green building in Canada, it highlights measures like energy efficiency and LEED certification and how they raise property values, utility savings, and indoor environmental quality. Green Building Canada points out a 9 to 50% reduction in sickness and 18 to 25% reduction in asthma and allergies based on green building measures.

Digital artist and illustrator Istvan has created a series of maps which artfully imagine the affect of cities and their human inhabitants on the local environment. His colorful images aren’t scientific in nature, but rather a personal exploration of what it might look like if the energies of the metropolis flowed out of the city itself.

“I wanted to represent the influence of cities on their environment as a kind of invisible fluid that overflows from the city to its surrounding.”

The flow of each city map was digitally rendered using local terrain to simulate the erosion flow Istvan desired, then reworked in Photoshop to create a unique identity for each place. The final images were printed on 70cm square acrylic glass.

When you think of the “collaborative economy,” chances are, you picture people sharing their cars, homes, and money. But that’s not the only thing people are sharing. Now, more and more people are sharing their time. They’re sharing their time to do small projects like deliveries, or they’re helping other businesses online as contractors, or using their time to create physical goods in the maker movement.

The result is this: The crowd is becoming like a company -- and enterprising marketers are learning to take advantage of this trend...

'The heartbeat of a city is a difficult thing to measure. Some, like physicists Geoffrey West and Luis Bettencourt, say you can measure a city by the precise pace at which its citizens walk. Others think a city’s true worth lies in the cost of its housing, or the growth of its population, or the fiscal outlook of its property developers. At GOOD, we believe that a city’s heartbeat is best measured in “possibility”—the pervading sense that though a place may be far from perfect, its citizens are taking a bold stake in its future through a mixture of creativity, hustle, and civic engagement.'

The toll of human activity on the world's wildlife population over the past 40 years is devastating. The World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) recently released "2014 Living Planet Report" shows that between 1970 and 2010, the population of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the globe has dropped a shocking 52 percent.

When talking about "Global Warming" we think of the wrong processes—we take the median to be the issue, when in fact it's the weather extremes that cause the greatest havoc—yet still, "Climate Change" does not give the full picture, either. "Climate" refers to one meta-process, while "Change" is a word that many embrace as potentially positive. "Planetary Upheaval" may be a more generally accurate description of what we are facing.

Experts believe that a solar boom is both feasible and necessary in order to reign in warming to safe levels.

Earlier this year, the International Energy Agency published an alarming report predicting catastrophic global warming. Based on current trends, it said, we're set for a 6 degree Celsius temperature increase this century--a level scientists agree would make life untenable for much of the planet. International agreements have set a target of just 2 degrees C, because that's what scientists say would be a relatively safe outcome.

The IEA did offer positive news, though. It said that an aggressive move to energy efficiency and renewables could keep the world's temperature under 2 degrees, and that such a move need not cost much. In fact, $44 trillion in investment by 2050 would net $115 trillion in fuel savings, such is the wonder of energy efficiency and potential for energy storage...

I just contracted to put one on my home. Consider solar installations in you next rehab or development project for long term solutions. With federal, state and now local grants the ROI may be right for a solar system installation.

We have been witnessing major transformations in the corporate mentality regarding office design. Here are some of the main workspace design trends...

According to this infographic from Alliance Interiors, more changes are yet to come, as the office of the future will be less business-focused and more employee-oriented. As a result of switching from closed offices to open offices- one of the most visible upgrade in workspace layout- we find out that the speed and accuracy of work has increased with 440%. This is mostly why open offices will continue to shape working environments in the years to come.

Norm Miller's insight: There is more to it than in this review encouraging open offices. JLL had a nice report that focused on value adding activities and noting that solo thinking in isolation was one of those. But this is still very useful.

Around the world two billion people eat insects on a regular basis. The current hotbeds — or should we say, hot pots — of consumption include Latin America, central Africa and Southeast Asia. As we look for new ways to feed a burgeoning global population, will entomophagy spread to other corners of the globe?

The folks over at Spacing Vancouver have compiled this multi-layered diagram which depicts the operating hours of every business within 200m from the Broadway-City Hall station on Cambie Street. The purpose of this time diagram is to show how "this continuous flow orchestrates the city's metabolism." Check out the complete story from Spacing Vancouver over here.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.